Dolly launched her "Blue Smoke" World Tour in Rancho Mirage, California, playing to more than 40 audiences across North America, Europe, and Australia.
She mentioned how excited she was to start the tour,
“It’s always great to perform at home in the good ole USA. We’re kicking off our Blue Smoke World Tour right here at home. I love traveling all over the world, but it’s true, there’s nothing like home.”
Dolly toured in support of her 42nd studio album "Blue Smoke," the title of which comes from the Cherokee word "Sha-Kon-O-Hey," which means "Land of the Blue Smoke."
The tour was officially announced on "The Queen Latifah Show" in October 2013.
Dolly began her "Better Day" World Tour on July 17, 2011, at Thompson-Boling arena in Knoxville, Tenn. It concluded on Dec. 1, 2011, at Melbourne Australia’s Rod Laver Arena. All told, Dolly played 50 dates, sold nearly 275,000 tickets, and grossed $34 million (her most successful tour to date).
Dolly was really excited to announce her "Better Day" World Tour saying,
"I had a great time when we were in Europe on the last ‘Backwoods Barbie’ tour, and I expect to have even more fun on the up and coming 'Better Day' World Tour. I'm really looking forward to this, and I can't wait to see all the fans again. We have a lot fun things for everybody!"
On May 28, 2008, Dolly kicked off her ninth headlining tour at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood, California, in support of her 40th studio album "Backwoods Barbie." After stops across the U.S., Northern Europe, and Canada, the tour concluded Nov. 19, 2008, at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines in Iowa. In Europe alone, 170,000 fans saw Dolly perform, marking the single most successful leg of any tour in Dolly’s history.
Dolly spoke about her motivations for touring and her mutual love affair with the fans,
“I am addicted to the love and the energy that I receive from the crowd [at my shows],” she said, “but it's a fair exchange. I love them and give them every ounce of energy that I have as well. So, I guess you could say that we feed off one another.”
Her concerts at London’s O2 Arena were the subject of a PBS Special, CD, and DVD release entitled “Dolly: Live in London O2 Arena” and "Dolly: Live From London," respectively.
Dolly was forced to delay the tour’s start because of a back injury. The quick-witted Dolly dealt with the elephants in the room with her usual humor,
“The truth is I just bent over one day to pick something up, and I hurt my lower back... I just kind of popped a disk in my lower back. So I said I know it's not my boobs. It's my lower back. And my butt ain't that big anymore. So it was just one of those freak things, and it's fine now.”
After nearly 11 months off the road, Dolly returned to touring Nov. 16, 2006 through May 20, 2007 with a show called "An Evening with Dolly Parton." Dolly performed seven shows in the U.S., six concerts in Canada, and 19 European dates. Covering her signature songs along with material from albums including "Those Were the Days," the tour included her Mighty Fine Band led by guitarist Kent Wells.
Dolly embarked on her Vintage Tour between Aug. 16, 2005, (Atlantic City, New Jersey) and Dec. 16, 2005, (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) in support of her "Those Were the Days" album. During the tour, Dolly visited 40 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
One of the main features of the tour was doing covers of other artists’ classic songs while adding her unique style (Bob Dylan’s "Blowin' in the Wind," for instance). Dolly commented on her process of picking and arranging the songs that she chose.
"I chose stuff I like to do... I mean, I hope people like it, but I enjoyed doing it, and I tried to treat every song just kind of with my own personality, kind of Dolly-ize them, but still try to pick up some of the best parts.''
